Shocking Harlequin Numbers

How ironic life is sometimes. I've been thinking about editing a book I wrote a few years ago and subbing it to Harlequin for the Blaze line. When I wrote the book, I had them in mind. I used to be a fan. I read their books faithfully every month and then I discovered other books and stopped reading them.

Yesterday I read a blog where Harlequin author Ann Voss discussed numbers. I was blown away by how horrible they were. Why would anyone in their right mind want to write for this house, except for a stepping stone to something larger. Even then is it worth it?

I'll let you be the judge. Here is the link to the blog. http://jakonrath.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/harlequin-fail.html

TGIF

It’s been one of those weeks. I’ve been trying to catch up from the conference. The good thing about the conference is I’m writing again. I’m actually enjoying the process. This week I’ve gotten to know my characters very well. So much so that I want to just keep writing. Only problem is my baby doesn’t want to watch her mom typing away. She has a huge fascination with my laptop and wants to pound away at the keys. Lol

This weekend is another busy one. I suspect most will be from here until Sept.

Thanks to random.org the winner of the print book is catscorner990. Send me an email to amberskyze AT aol DOT com with your address and I’ll mail it out to you.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Print Book Giveaway

Yesterday I promised a book giveaway and I’m living up to that promise. I’m just a tad late posting so I’ll run this contest through midnight 5/3/12.

I’m giving away a copy of Dalton Diaz and Samantha Cayto’s signed copy of Illegal Moves. Here’s the reason. I won a gift basket from my awesome friend Dalton at the NEC conference. It was the last giveaway and I was stunned to hear my name. I laughed all the way up because of all the basket’s – I got hers. I went back to the table and it was full of awesome books by her. Guess what? I’m in one, I’m part of the cougar challenge series, so I have all of the books and the third – Illegal Moves I own a signed copy from two years ago. A few women at my table were dying for the other books so I gave them away there. I did keep Love Cuffs for myself, oh and all the goodies. :o)

How do you win? Just leave a comment. Simple.

PS...the print is to U.S residents only. I'll be willing to give an ebook of mine away to the winner if you live outside the U.S. Sorry.

Happy Wednesday.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Yesterday I blogged about the highs and lows of the NEC conference on Friday night. Today I’m going to discuss the good, bad and ugly aka, my agent appointment.

I was super excited about the appointment because the agent received the query and first 10 pages prior to the meeting. This way she had time to decide if she wanted more. The appointments last 8 minutes, after the brief introductions here’s how mine went:

Good:

I love your writing

Your dialogue zips along nicely

The flow from one pov to the next is fantastic

I LOVE your heroine’s unique name.

Bad:

BUT, the concept of a woman vigilante has been done before and I don’t feel I can sell this.

What else do you have?

I explained another book that is complete, but needs revision.

Her interest piques.

I’m thinking score one for me.

I say, “Maybe I could send you a partial?”

“Sure, you can go through the normal submission process online,” she says.

Ugly:

“Do you have any questions for me?”

I hate this question because I’ve read a lot about what not to ask. I bumbled through some question and realized the more we talked we weren’t a match. She was super professional and nice, but of course as a writer I want someone who is passionate about my work like me.

She asked if I had any more questions and I said no. I stood, thanked her for her time and left.

Time spent with agent? 4 mins.

As a first timer, it was an awesome experience and I learned a lot about what to do and not do. I’m thinking of self-publishing these contemporaries anyway, but it’s always nice to see what an agent thinks. Overall I had a lot of positives coming out of the meeting. She only made 3 minor comments on my 10 pages, so I was happy.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the guest speaker and give away a book. :o)

Home Again, Home Again!

I’m home and full of ideas for a few new stories. The conference had some highs and lows, but overall an excellent conference!

What started off as a low at dinner on Friday night turned into an amazing high. The guest speaker stated he was a channeler. For me the speech was a tad sad and depressing. My friends love him, so I felt this is all personal taste. My parents always taught me to be respectful so I stayed and am I glad I did. After he was done my friends said let’s go up and talk to him. I didn’t have much I wanted to hear from him, but a dear friend of mine did. She wanted closer for a very difficult situation. As I stood in line I told her she may never get closer. I just felt it was best for her to be prepared that closure isn’t always available. Boy did Roland Comtois prove me wrong. He gave her so much closer he had me in tears. He also gave another friend some much needed information.

As for me he told me my dad needed me. I hadn’t spoken to him in over a month. I called and left him a vm and he called me back yesterday. Turns out my father had thrown his back out two weeks ago and was suffering. We spoke last night and I feel much better.

One of the highlights of my Friday night was meeting Julia Barrett in person. She is beautiful on the inside and out. She’s an amazing online friend so to see her, talk to her and give her a hug (or five) was incredible for me. Love ya J!

Another online friend I had the honor of finally meeting in person was Penny Watson. Folks she’s so funny and gorgeous in her tiara. I enjoyed her Promo workshop, her tiara and her ability to sell all her Christmas books at the book signing. (okay, so I was a bit jealous). ;)

That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll talk about Saturday and my agent appointment.

Happy Monday!

Gone for the Weekend

Heading out shortly for Salem MA and the annual NEC RWA conference. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

http://necrwa.org/blog1/conference/

Busy this week getting ready for the conference. Because I procrastinate I'm rushing like usual. Last minute details like getting the hair highlighted, need a new pair of dress pants. The ones I love magically disappeared. As my dear friend Katalina Leon said about my to-do list: #2 Don't go pant-less. LOL That would be a tad embarrassing. I've made plans with so many awesome friends and writers I can't wait to see them all. So if you're in Salem or around drop by for the book signing! Love to meet the readers.